I put Ferland in temporary charge of preparations for the Dranii ambassador's visit because something important was taking place that I wanted to be a part of. The chicks were making their first serious attempts at flight. They were managing to take off and remain airborne for a few seconds but they weren't able to maintain controlled flight. This was an important moment for Uraia, because once the chicks had mastered flight the expectation was that they would fly off to begin living on their own. With no binding stone, the only thing that would cause Igor to stay was the natural bond that Uraia had managed to form with him.

The chicks were practicing flight by running down the hill behind the garden and using their momentum to launch themselves into the air. Every time they tried they would get airborne for a few seconds but inevitably they fell to the ground and rolled the rest of the way down the hill. The chick that was the closest to achieving flight was Igor. Once he was airborne he was able to remain in the air for a few seconds longer than the others and it was clear to see that he would be flying in no time. Despite the possibility of Igor flying off and her never seeing him again, Uraia was providing him with unceasing encouragement. She and Cyrus were encouraging all of them, but Uraia was paying special attention to Igor and giving him extra encouragement, and Igor was trying harder than the other chicks to repay Uraia's faith in him. Watching them, I was certain that Igor would stay, as was Myra. I had been keeping a binding stone with me just in case Igor flew off and I had to ask Myra to bring him back and have him submit to Uraia and the binding stone. I wanted to fly with Uraia beside me, and as long as the chicks were there I would see to it that at least one of them remained behind as Uraia's beast.

Ferland took to the task of preparing for our audience with the Dranii ambassador with preternatural alacrity. After only one day he was eager for me to grant him a block of time to discuss his ideas for what our approach should be. I told him that I appreciated his dedication and enthusiasm but that I wasn't ready to talk about Dranii just yet.

"Get some wagons ready, the bows that I asked the chief to have made for us need to be collected."

My anxiety over the chicks learning to fly was greater than I thought it would be. It had been growing steadily for days and my suspicion was that it was the result of the synchronicity between mine and Myra's feelings. Myra was experiencing the anxiety of a mother who's on the verge of becoming an empty nester, and her feelings of despair over having to say goodbye to her babies, which were being transmitted to me through the binding stone, were making it hard for me to concentrate on anything else. Even the chance to watch VanBilt squeal, which I had been looking forward to enormously, held no appeal for me at present. I was stuck waiting for the moment when the chicks took flight and we could all process and adjust to their departure.

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Igor proved us all right. He was the first to achieve sustained, controlled flight. He still needed to run down the hill to launch himself and his first moments of flight were still frantic but once he got high enough he was able to keep himself in the air under the power of his wings. The other chicks, seeing Igor's success, began applying themselves to mastering flight with renewed energy and determination.

When Igor was getting ready to fully master flight it was a tense time for Uraia, who was worried about him possibly flying off and not returning. I made sure to be there for Uraia during this time; if Igor chose to fly off rather than stay by her side she would be heartbroken, and under no circumstances could I allow Uraia to go through such heartbreak alone. Even if Igor flew off and I had Myra bring him back so that Uraia could place a binding stone on him, she would still be hurt by Igor's decision to leave her.

I was in the garden with Uraia when the moment of truth arrived. Igor took off with no problem from a standing position, remained comfortably airborne, and then began to fly. He flew around the garden and the fields, then around the palace, then over the city. We watched him flying and waited to see what his choice would be. Uraia was in a state of high anxiety during these few minutes, a state I'd never seen her in before, not even when she was about to risk her life. I wondered if her anxiety was because of how much she was looking forward to flying with Igor as I did with Myra or if it was because she didn't want to disappoint me after I had bequeathed Igor to her. I was clutching the binding stone in my right hand, waiting to give Myra the order to bring her son back should he start flying away from the city. Thankfully I didn't need to resort to such measures. When he became tired of flying over the city Igor returned to the garden, returned to Uraia. He landed before her and walked to her and they nuzzled, a clear expression of the strength of the bond that they had forged.

"Here, take it," I said to Uraia, holding out the binding stone to her.

"I don't need it."

"With this you'll be able to communicate telepathically with him, like Myra and I do; take it."

Uraia took the binding stone from me and the necklace that had the Master Gem on it. She placed the binding stone on Igor's head and he accepted her as the master to whom he would be bound.

The most nerve wracking episode that we had lived through in the palace was at an end, and it was time to return to the business of ruling the kingdom.

"Tell Alfred and Boris to be here in the morning," I said to Ferland on my way back into the palace.

"Yes your majesty."

It would be another few months before Uraia was able to fly with Igor, until then I just had to be patient.